The iPad is a Mad Profit Machine

The iPad is known as the pioneer of the burgeoning tablet market and is a fairly profitable unit for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), but what if it were a tech company of its own? According to a research report from Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, if the Apple tablet were to be spun off into a standalone business, it would be the 11th largest U.S. tech company.

“Three years ago, the iPad did not exist,” Sacconaghi, who has an Outperform rating on Apple shares and a $750 price target, wrote in a note to investors. “Today, it generates $32 billion in annual revenues, and as a standalone business would be the 11th largest U.S. tech company.”

The iPad accounted for just over 60 percent of all tablet sales last year and is projected to grow 75 percent this year to sales of $46 billion. The iPad is doing particularly well in the enterprise market. According to a survey by Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, 57 percent of organizations surveyed planned to give out the Apple tablet to employees this year, compared to 46 percent in 2012. “We view the greater deployment of tablets as a positive for Apple given that we believe the iPad has over 60 percent global tablet share and likely a higher share among enterprises,” Munster wrote.

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Fortunefurther calculated that the iPad-only company would even make the Fortune 500, coming in at a very impressive 98th spot. There, it would be placed above companies such as McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Macy’s (NYSE:M), and Nike (NYSE:NKE) and make more money than Gap (NYSE:GPS) and Toys “R” Us combined.